The Lightening Strike

Peace!

OK. I am a LOOOOOOOONG time Ambi/Artra user. I should be their spokesperson. For those of you who don’t know what they are… they are fade creams. Fade creams get really bad raps. There is an ad on Facebook with a woman going from clearly Negroid to albinism through use of a fade cream. Sammy Sosa has REALLY lightened his skin with a fade cream. Why would anyone use a fade cream? It’s to keep your skin/complexion even. That’s why I use it. That’s why I’ve always used it. As a Black woman, my face can become blotchy and unevenly toned. A lot of women correct that with foundation. I prefer to correct it with fade cream. And I am allergic to most things, but not this.

My mother is the one who got me hooked on fade cream when I was really young. My mother is color struck, but won’t admit it. She was of the 60’s activists. She used to wear an afro wig on top of her pressed hair. But she wasn’t too color struck to marry a man who was coal Black. Consequently, I’m one of the darkest women on my mother’s side of the family. (my brother is the “pretty” one because he is lighter) My mother wasn’t trying to have me become lighter; she wanted me to be a proud Black woman…. But she was trying to have me become lighter. I was the only one (and the darkest) in the house using this product and I was just geeked to have my own regimen. So I started using either Ambi or Artra and my skin has been flawless since.

I get a ridiculous amount of compliments on my complexion. The thing is the rest of me is a different color than my face. My hands are like 3 shades darker than my face. I will throw more than a little shade at women who have a lighter foundation than their neck. That mask effect is stupid. So in order to not be hypocritical, I use the cream down to my boobs and on my elbows and ankles too. You would think my hands would get in on the action but no….

My coworker (who hates me and has bad skin) said in front of some patients who were paying me compliments that the only reason my skin appeared even was because of foundation. When I picked up a white Kleenex and rubbed my face super hard and the Kleenex was still white I swear I saw a blood vessel burst in her head. So regardless of why I stated using it, it works. BUT….. I was feeling some kind of way about using a product that would lighten me up. I ADORE being the piece of dark chocolate. I’m not using the cream to become lighter. I don’t equate lighter with better. But I don’t want to be blotchy either.

So… I stopped using it for almost a year. Even though I love this product; I can’t wear it year round. In the summer with the external heat and my internal temperature it turns the cream into a goop once it mixes with sweat on my face. It’s nasty, not pretty, burns my eyes and stains my clothes. So eventually there will come a time in a given year when I stop using the product only to resume using it when the weather gets cooler. And during the summer, my skin looks crazy! It is ridiculous how fast my skin will go from even to blotchy.

In 2013, when the weather cooled I didn’t start back with Ambi/Artra. (They are 2 different products that do the same thing. I wasn’t sure I explained that.) And do you know what? I hated how my skin looks. Despite my feelings about being something other than self; I like even skin. So I guess I said all this to say I’m using a skin lightening product and I don’t care! I like even skin and this does it for me. And if I could wear it through the summer I probably would! But if you were ever curious, these products work! Take a look…. Takes about 2 weeks to work.


Peace

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